The Rain Connection
by jylener22
Summary: Festivals and rain. Two words people normally wouldn't associate with one another, but for three couples at the Soul Society Tanabata Festival, those two words will take on a special and life-altering meaning.


The Rain Connection

Once upon a time, a princess and a common laborer fell in love and were wed. However, their love was destined to be tested and tempered in a most unusual way. Three hundred sixty four days of the year, the princess and the laborer would be kept apart and busy working at their jobs in the heavens. For one day out of the year, the only thing that kept the lovers apart was a river. On clear nights, a make-shift bridge would be erected and husband and wife were reunited. If, however, the rains came, no such bridge could be formed and so the tears of the princess would join the rain in watering the ground as she had to wait another three hundred sixty four days before she could see her husband again.

And such was the legend that was the foundation of a festival that would be the meeting place of three couples. Each meeting was unique and special and yet for those who observed all three meetings, they would all agree that there were strong similarities between all three.

The first couple met for the first time at the Tanabata festival held annually in the Soul Society by the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. The man was tall with dark hair and light blue eyes that shone with friendliness and an easy-going air. The woman was graceful with dark hair and smoky gray eyes that revealed to all who looked into them that she woman was a lady through and through. When the two were introduced, it was love at first sight for the man while the woman found him to be a very nice person, but possibly not someone with whom she would want to spend much time.

As it turned out, rain began to fall from the heavens and put the woman's first impression to the test. In an attempt to get out of the rain, the man and woman just so happened to select the exact same tree to take refuge beneath. Conversation did not flow freely at first, but as they grew used to each other one opinion remained the same and grew more fervent while the other person's was altered slightly to accommodate certain emotions that were beginning to take root.

Years went by and man and woman eventually became man and wife and they worked as a team in their home as well as in their squad. They were loved by all, which is why on the day before Tanabata when the woman was attacked by a monster and vanquished it was not only the man who mourned bitterly. However, it was the man who went out to avenge his wife and even while defeating the monster wound up losing his own life.

As he breathed his last, the stroke of midnight came and went making the day on which the couple was reunited once again in death the seventh day of the seventh month or Tanabata. The heavens themselves seemed to open up and add their own tears to the ones shed on that night.

Thus ended the story of Kaien and Miyako Shiba.

Several years later, Soul Society prepared to celebrate Tanabata again only this time people from the Rukongai were invited to celebrate as well with the Thirteen Court Guard Squads. It was at this festival that the captain of Squad 10 literally ran into a beautiful woman from Rukongai and once again quite literally fell head over heels in love and in front of her. The captain was completely smitten by the woman's rich and yet light brown hair and shining matching brown eyes, while the woman couldn't help but laugh softly at the dark haired and eyed captain acting like a young boy.

Once again, the heavens poured rain upon the revelers, but unlike the Tanabata legend where the rain drove the princess and the laborer away from one another, the falling water helped to bring together another couple and help them get to know one another better while taking shelter under a tree. Not long after that night, the captain and the Rukongai woman left for the World of the Living in order to create a new life together as husband and wife. For eleven years they lived in happiness with each other and the three children who were born to them.

On Tanabata when their oldest son was a few days shy of turning ten, the woman was walking home with her son and suddenly they both spotted a figure falling into the river. Immediately the young boy ran from his mother's side in order to fulfill his destiny and namesake as a protector. In his enthusiasm, the boy failed to see the dangerous trap ensnaring him as he ran out and that ultimately closed in around his mother as she rushed after her son following her own protective instincts.

The boy woke up to the feeling of rain splattering over his face and an unexpected weight pinning him to the ground. When he looked down, the boy was unable to react at first upon seeing his mother stretched lifelessly over himself. Then it wasn't long before his own tears joined those of the heavens in grieving the woman's passing.

An hour or so later, the former captain stumbled upon the scene bearing his two small, sleeping daughters in his arms as he frantically searched for his wife and son. Despite the fact that the man had been preparing himself for the worst possible scenario, it was no less devastating to find his wife lying lifeless in a pool of rain water, mud and blood while the boy lay once again senseless beneath his mother. Gently, the man pulled his son away from his mother and then lay all of his sleeping children atop his own coat before he approached his wife for the last time. He pulled her into his arms, holding her to his chest, kissing her hair and face and weeping openly yet silently for a time.

When the former captain had spent all the time he could possibly spare mourning over his wife, he got up, called the authorities, waited for them to come and assess the scene before he gave his own testimony as quickly as he could. It wasn't long before they told him he was free to go home. At that point, the man walked over to where his three small children still miraculously lay oblivious to the chaos around them. Gathering the three remaining pieces of his heart into his arms, the former captain walked away from the woman who had built a home in the biggest portion of his heart.

Thus were Isshin and Masaki Kurosaki torn from one another.

Two years passed, and the son grew up without his mother beside him. While he did still have his father and sisters there to love and protect, the wounds inflicted upon his heart had not been given proper time to heal. This was due to the fact that the boy had convinced himself that he alone was responsible for his mother's death and refused to forgive himself as a result. However, on the second anniversary of his mother's death, another tragic accident would occur that would draw the young boy out, even if only for a little while, to help someone else in pain.

A victim of a car crash was brought to the young boy's house since his father had become a doctor after leaving the Thirteen Court Guard Squads all those years ago and ran a clinic from inside his own home. The victim from the car crash was in critical condition and while it seemed very unlikely that he would survive for much longer, he was still brought to the clinic on the off-chance that he somehow managed to pull through after the right treatment.

It was not unusual for the twelve year old boy to see patients brought into the clinic and certainly not uncommon for the patient's family and/or friends to show up in order to learn of the patient's injuries and such. However, on this night, the two people who came to the clinic would make a lasting impression upon the boy for several reasons.

First, just as the victim was being rolled into the clinic, a young girl about the boy's own age raced down the sidewalk to stand at the unconscious man's side. Second, it seemed as though the girl could barely see anything around her due to the tears clouding her vision and as they crossed over the clinic threshold, one of the paramedics had to steady the girl after she stumbled and nearly fell over. Third, as she waited for the doctor to tend to her brother, the boy heard her mumble to herself that she was to blame for all of this. Lastly, when the boy's father had done all he could and tried to gently tell the girl that the victim was not going to survive the night, the girl's response was to shakily make her way over to the man's bedside in order to beg the man not to leave her and to forgive her.

The boy looked out the window and saw that rain had begun to fall as they had been inside the clinic. Instantly, the boy began to reminisce about that same night two years previously when he had also begged his mother not to leave him alone. When he had begun to detest the rain.

Looking back to the weeping girl, the boy saw that she had fallen asleep from exhaustion. Thinking that it would be better for her to wake up away from the man so that she could become used to the idea of his not coming back and also that sleeping on a couch would be far more comfortable, the boy walked over and lifted the girl into his arms. He struggled at first since they were both about the same size, but he managed to make it out the door and down the hall a little ways to the waiting area where there were some couches.

Despite all the boy's efforts to set the girl down without disturbing her, the girl's eyes opened just as he reached the couch. They stared at each other in silence for a few moments, observing the other carefully. The next moment, the girl seemed to hear something and turned her head towards the window. Following her gaze, the boy saw that she was looking at the rain splattering against the window. Instinctively, the boy set the girl's feet on the ground and watched as she made her way over to the window.

Nothing happened for the space of about five minutes when suddenly, the girl turned and bolted towards the door, yanked it open and ran out into the rain. The boy let out a cry of surprise and ran after her, but stopped when he reached the doorway.

The girl was just standing there. She was standing there with her face turned up to meet the rain, her arms hanging limply by her sides. At first, the boy couldn't think of what to say and then he collected his wits enough to yell out that the girl would catch cold unless she came back inside. When the girl made no response, the boy yelled at her again and then a third time before she finally turned around to look at him.

The expression on her face was one that the boy could not read or understand and when the girl spoke to him for the first time, her words made no sense to him either.

"The rain is the end and the beginning."

Thus did Ichigo Kurosaki and Orihime Inoue meet for the first time.

Six years passed, and Soul Society was getting ready to celebrate their annual Tanabata festival with several new additions added to the guest list…

-

"Stupid Urahara! Stupid me! I should have known that conniving shopkeeper would have something like this up his sleeve! Asking me if I wanted to come over early with him and the others, why didn't I see that it was going to be a trap?"

Ichigo was so absorbed in grumbling darkly to himself and in building a stand that he didn't notice a few figures coming up behind him. When he felt a hand rest on his shoulder, Ichigo flinched and automatically turned his attention towards his assailants and away from what he was doing. A very bad idea since he had been getting ready to hammer in a nail.

"What're yo-" was all Ichigo managed to get out before there was a loud thud and he began howling in pain. The group consisted of Hanataro, Rukia, Renji and Toshiro and they all looked at Ichigo with varying degrees of concern and pity on their faces.

Hanataro spoke up in a concerned tone, "Are you all right? What happened?"

As usually happens when a person does something completely stupid and hurts themselves, that same person oftentimes becomes extremely irritable and lashes out at the first person who asks the most obvious question. Such was the case in this scenario.

"Am I all right? Of course I'm not all right! I just banged my hand instead of the nail, so you tell me if you think that sounds pleasant! "

Instinctively, Hanataro backed away from the person who was yelling at him despite the fact that Hanataro and wanted to offer to heal Ichigo's small injury and apologize for distracting Ichigo. Rukia, however, was made of sterner stuff and was completely used to bringing Ichigo down a few pegs when necessary.

"Leave off him, you big bullying idiot! Like it's Hanataro's fault you can't tell the difference between your hand and a nail! Now hopefully you'll learn to pay more attention to what you're doing!"

The two bickered on for a few more minutes, calling each other names that were not at all original in their arguments before they were finally distracted by a bit of moisture falling on their faces. Everyone looked up at the sky and saw a few clouds in the sky, but nothing major so everyone came to the conclusion that it would probably just sprinkle for a few minutes that night before dying away.

Now that they had taken a brief pause in their argument, Ichigo asked Rukia in a slightly less annoyed voice, "So, did you have something you wanted to ask me or what?"

Rukia shrugged her shoulders and said in an unconcerned tone, "Nothing much. Just saw you over here and came on over. What, is it a crime to come over and say 'Hi' to your friends?"

Ichigo didn't answer, but went back to hammering as Toshiro asked, "So, are you the only one coming from the World of the Living?"

Flicking his eyes back in Toshiro's direction, Ichigo replied with a question, "Why so curious? You expect to see someone special?"

Folding his arms and giving Ichigo's back an icy stare, Toshiro replied, "Of course not. Rangiku's been annoying me for the past week talking about all the different hair, make-up and outfit ideas she's been dying to try on Orihime ever since she heard that Soul Society was inviting all of you for our festival."

Ichigo shook his head saying, "I almost feel sorry for Orihime. Just what will Rangiku do to her?"

Renji spoke up asking, "So you came over by yourself?"

Nodding Ichigo said, "Urahara asked me if I wanted to head over early. I was stupid enough to say yes not knowing that the old geezer just wanted a bit of free manual labor to set up a stall. As for the others, I have no idea when they're coming."

Hanataro's timid voice piped up saying, "Actually, Orihime and her friends Tatsuki and Chizuru as well as Ichigo's sister, Karin, arrived over an hour ago and were whisked away by Rangiku and my own captain. They were going on about doing complete make-overs."

Turning to Hanataro, Rukia said, "Well, why didn't you mention something sooner? I'm going over to help them."

With that, Rukia turned and walked away before any of the young men could say another word. As one, they slowly turned and looked at one another with identical looks of bemusement on their faces.

Renji spoke first saying, "What is it with girls and their obsession with make-overs? They normally look just fine to begin with."

The other guys nodded their agreement and spent the next half hour or so discussing 'manly' topics like what new fighting techniques they were working on or just how much they had improved their stamina and the like before they were joined by Ichigo's friends Uryu, Chad, Keigo and Mizuiro who had just crossed over from the World of the Living. Uryu and Chad had been to the Soul Society before, but this was Keigo and Mizuiro's first time. They had been included on the invitation along with Tatsuki and Chizuru because of their involvement during the battle with Aizen. Isshin and Karin had also been invited, but because Yuzu was still unable to see spiritual beings, Isshin had opted to stay home with her to have a celebration of their own.

As they approached, Keigo looked as though he were about to do his usual greeting for Ichigo, but when he saw the other Soul Reapers standing around his friend, he settled for simply saluting and saying in a bright tone, "Never fear! Keigo the party starter has arrived!"

Not even acknowledging Keigo's greeting, Ichigo looked up briefly and said simply, "Hey," to which Chad replied with his usual grunt and a cellphone-less Mizuiro said "Hello," while Uryu adjusted his glasses and opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by another voice calling over to them. All the young men turned to see Kira Izuru coming towards them.

Kira stopped a little ways away and gestured with his hands as he said, "The festival's about to start and apparently things are going to be a little different this year. They want everybody to head over to the river."

Ichigo stood up and dropped the hammer as he asked, "What about the stalls over here?"

Kira looked puzzled as he asked, "Who said we were going to have stalls?"

There was no sound for a few seconds as the information seeped in and then Ichigo ground out from between gritted teeth, "I was wondering why Urahara seemed to be the only person actually setting up a stall. The moment I see that creep's face I am personally going to enjoy rearranging every single one of his facial features."

Everyone jumped when a voice sounded from behind them all that said, "Oh, don't be like that, Ichigo. I like my facial features right where they are, thank you very much."

They all turned around to see the man in question looking at all of them with a  
particularly cheery grin.

Urahara spoke up again before anyone had a chance, saying, "Now, when did I ever say that this structure was going to be a vendor's stall? I had you build this here because in past years there have been quite a few times when rain has broken up our wonderful festival and while some can find shelter under the trees others have not been quite so lucky. This a 'just in case' place for people to stay dry."

Clapping his hands, Urahara said briskly, "You've done an admirable job Ichigo, so thank you and now we can all head over and things underway."

When they arrived at the river, Ichigo and the others looked around and saw that none of the women had shown up yet. They weren't left to wonder what was going on for long as Urahara walked over to stand on a dock by the river.

Waving his arms, Urahara made sure all the gathered men were paying attention before he spoke in his usual bright voice, "Welcome everyone to the annual Soul Society Tanabata festival. This year to get things started, we have decided to try something a little different. You'll notice that all of our beautiful women have failed to make an appearance as of yet and for good reason. It just so happens that they are all waiting on the other side of the river."

Making wide sweeping gestures to match his smile, Urahara went on, "We all know the legend of Tanabata with the princess and her common laborer lover having to cross a river in order to meet once every year. There are several variations on how this is done from a make-shift bridge of crows to a raft that carries the princess over. In our case, we will ferry each of our lovely 'princesses' over the river to be 'united' with her 'common laborer' for the evening's festivities."

Grinning, Urahara finished with, "For those of you who wish to participate, please line up here and sign your name and you will be randomly paired off with a young lady when she arrives. Not even I know what order the young ladies have decided to come over in, so it will be a surprise for everyone."

It didn't take long for all the spaces on the sheet to be filled with names. At first Ichigo, Renji and Toshiro didn't seem too keen on putting their names on the list, but when Uryu made a comment about some people not having enough charisma and manners to properly entertain a young lady for an evening, the trio promptly filled in the last three spaces on the list.

Once the sheet was filled, Urahara picked it up and smiled saying, "All right then! I'll just let the ladies know that we're ready for them," and with that, he picked up a sparkler and lit it before he waved it back and forth above his head.

A minute later, Ichigo could make out a fairly large sized group making their way down to the riverbank where a ferry was waiting for them. The ferry was manned by Yumichika and Ikkaku along with several other members of their squad. It took about five minutes before the craft reached the opposite shore and was tied securely to the dock.

Stepping back onto the dock, Urahara held up the sheet of names and called off the first one. When the man stepped forward, a young lady made her way off the ferry and went to stand with her new partner for the night. Then Urahara moved on to the next name on the list and the process repeated itself.

As Urahara made his way down the list, Ichigo turned his attention onto the females standing on the ferry. It didn't take him long to spot Rukia, Tatsuki, Chizuru, Karin, Rangiku and Orihime. He noticed that they were all wearing rather expensive looking yukatas, with their hair beautifully arranged and a little make-up applied to make them look a little more sophisticated.

Feeling an elbow nudge him in the ribs, Ichigo looked over at Renji as the man said, "Hey, look at the girls in all that get-up. They actually look like they stepped out of one of those pictures that are always being drawn about Tanabata. I guess the make-overs weren't such a waste of time after all."

Ichigo didn't reply, but turned his gaze back to the waiting females and had to admit that Renji was right. They all did look as though they had stepped out of a picture. He didn't have long to really take in their appearance before he heard his friend Keigo being called up. The eager Keigo made his way through the crowd and waited for his 'princess' to join him and who turned out to be Rangiku. As the two walked off together, Ichigo exchanged shocked expressions with Renji, Uryu and Mizuiro. Out of all the girls Ichigo might have guessed Keigo might have gotten, Rangiku certainly wouldn't be near the top of the list. This night was starting to become a little more interesting.

When Mizuiro was called, he was paired with Nemu. Then Chad walked away with Tatsuki following close behind and after that Kira became Momo's companion. Uryu's partner turned out to be Captain Unohana, while Hanataro escorted Chizuru.

Ichigo was called next and as he made his way towards the ferry, he saw his sister, Karin, start to make her way towards the dock before Urahara said quickly, "Oh, wait a minute. I'm going to make a slight change if I may and have brother and sister don't have to be partners. Hmmm, let me see…Karin, since Toshiro is next on the list you may be his partner and then whoever was supposed to go after you may be paired with Ichigo."

Karin nodded and said, "That would be Orihime."

When Ichigo turned his attention to the girl in question, he was surprised and rather concerned to see her face slowly losing color and taking on a blank and unfocused expression. Reacting instinctively, Ichigo walked purposefully over to the stunned girl before he tried asking her if she was all right. Giving a little start, Orihime turned her attention to Ichigo and he saw the color come back into her cheeks as well as the rest of her face.

Letting out a kind of nervous giggle, Orihime said, "Oh, I'm fine."

Ichigo wanted to gently push her until she told him what was really wrong, but something told him that now was not the time, so he simply nodded his head in understanding. Then he turned and made his way back off the ferry and heard Orihime following him.

After Toshiro had gone up to 'unite' with Karin and Renji was partnered with Rukia, Urahara smiled at the gathered crowd and said, "So, now that all of the 'princesses' have found their 'laborers' we can really get things underway. There are bamboo wish trees and all sorts of other things to do so go and have some fun!"

When the crowd began to go their separate ways, Ichigo reached down and clasped Orihime's hand firmly yet gently. Hearing a sharp intake of breath, Ichigo turned to see Orihime staring at their joined hands with wide eyes and unreadable expression on her face.

Speaking over the crowd, Ichigo said, "I just wanted to make sure that we stick together, but if you're not comfortable with this then we can do something else."

Looking up quickly to meet Ichigo's gaze, Orihime frantically shook her head saying, "Oh no, no, no! I'm not uncomfortable at all! I'll follow you anywhere and I promise we won't get separated!"

Allowing the corners of his mouth to soften slightly, Ichigo said, "That should be my line. C'mon."

The two of them set out and spent the next forty-five minutes wandering around and meeting up with their different friends at times. Up until then, they had not noticed that the few clouds in the sky had begun to multiply and then rather suddenly what started as a miniature drizzle turned into a full-blown thunderstorm. People began searching frantically for places to take refuge from the storm, Ichigo and Orihime among them and finally they were able to find a spot underneath a good-sized tree.

For a time, neither spoke as they caught their breath since they had been running around trying to find shelter. Ichigo spoke first in a dry tone.

"Of course it would rain tonight. That's just great."

Orihime looked over at Ichigo when he said those words and hesitated for a moment before she said, "I'm sure the trees and plants are grateful for the drink and besides, a storm like this probably won't last very long."

Ichigo looked at her and gave her a half-grin as he said, "Leave it to you to find a silver lining in these storm clouds. Nothing ever dampens your spirits for long."

Orihime gave him a puzzled look as she asked, "What do you mean?"

Leaning back against the tree, Ichigo scratched his temple as he said, "I mean that even though I've seen you cry and become rather depressed or sad, it's not very long before you're smiling and happy once again as if nothing ever happened. My mom was like that."

Turning her face a little so as to hide her blush, Orihime said quickly, "I guess it's because my brother always told me that my special gift was making people smile and in order to do that I needed to smile twice as much."

Looking thoughtful, Ichigo said slowly, "I've never heard of that before, but I guess it makes sense."

Keeping her face averted, Orihime said quickly, "You have a really special gift too, Ichigo."

Ichigo gave another half-grin and said, "Right, attracting all sorts of trouble. My orange hair must be some sort of trouble magnet."

Orihime let out a giggle before she said, "That's not it at all. Your gift is inspiration. You inspire people."

A small snort escaped Ichigo as he said skeptically, "Yeah sure. I inspire people."

Pushing away from the tree, Orihime turned to look directly at Ichigo with a rather firm expression as she said heatedly, "Of course you do, Ichigo! Who was the one who defeated about half of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads' captains AND vice-captains single-handedly when an innocent woman was condemned to death? You did. And who then was accepted by all of those same Soul Reapers whom he defeated as a fellow warrior and companion? You were. Who was the person whom Chad, Uryu and I looked up to as the person we wanted to fight alongside no matter what the cost? You were and still are. Who went to-"

Orihime cut off suddenly and Ichigo saw that she was struggling to keep her composure, but before he could say anything, Orihime went on, "Who went to Hueco Mundo and died twice in order to save me from Aizen and the Arrancars? You did. Who was willing to give up all of his Soul Reaper power in order to defeat Aizen once and for all? You were. Wh-"

As she had been speaking, Orihime's voice had become more and more tearful as memories had started flashing before her mind's eye. This had not gone unnoticed by Ichigo, who firmly grasped Orihime by the shoulders and gave her a small shake in order to snap her back to the present.

Making sure that Orihime was listening to him, Ichigo said slowly, "I get it Orihime. Don't go dredging up any more bad memories."

Turning her face out in order to see the rain, Orihime was quiet for a time before she said softly, "It happened six years ago."

Ichigo blinked and let go of Orihime's shoulders as he said, "Huh?"

Orihime's focus remained on the pouring rain as she answered, "My brother's death. It was six years ago today."

At first, Ichigo didn't know how to respond and then before he knew it, he heard his own voice saying, "My mother died eight years ago."

Orihime turned and asked breathlessly, "She died…on this day?"

Ichigo nodded and Orihime paused for a minute before she said softly, "I had no idea. I'm so sorry."

Looking into Orihime's eyes, Ichigo said, "There's nothing for you to apologize for. For the longest time I blamed myself for my mother's death, but Rukia helped me to begin to forgive myself."

At the mention of Rukia's name, Orihime looked at the ground before looking back out at the rain as she said breezily, "Rukia really is amazing, isn't she? She was the one who first introduced you to the world of the Soul Reapers, helped you to find your strength once again after fighting with Yammy and Ulquiorra that first time and so many other things."

Resting his back against the tree again, Ichigo sighed, "Yeah, I guess she is. All though, there are plenty of times when she can be a huge pain in the neck. Literally."

Rubbing the back of his neck, Ichigo sighed, "You know, I almost feel bad for Renji, but he's known her longer than anyone, so he already knows all about her temper and stuff. They'll make an interesting couple whenever Renji gets the guts to finally tell Rukia the truth about his feelings."

As Ichigo had been talking, Orihime's eyes had gotten wider before she finally managed, "Renji is in love with Rukia?"

"Yeah and has been for years. I think the midget loves him back, but she can be a little harder to read than Renji."

Before Orihime could say anything, there was a sudden flash of light that struck the ground about ten feet from where they stood under the tree followed almost instantly by a deafening thunderclap.

Immediately, Ichigo jumped away from the tree. He then grasped Orihime's shoulders and pushed her back against the tree while using his body as a shield. Orihime had allowed him to make these adjustments without complaint, but now she realized just how close they were and her face began to flush with color. Ichigo didn't notice at first because his head was craned to look out from under the tree to make sure no more lightning was going to strike near them, but when he turned his attention back to the girl wedged between his own body and a tree, he began to notice things that he hadn't up until that point in time.

First, he noticed that Orihime couldn't seem to be able to look much higher than his chest. Second, he saw how Orihime's fingers nervously clenched and unclenched as if they wanted to grasp something but refused to do so. Third, Orihime was breathing very quickly and he involuntarily found himself doing the same. Lastly, despite her wet clothes and slightly mussed and damp hair, Orihime's entire being exuded a soft, tantalizing beauty.

Now, for the first time, Ichigo began to see and understand Orihime.

Gently, Ichigo cupped his fingers under her chin and raised her head until he met her eyes. For a time, they simply gazed at one another, trying to comprehend exactly what was happening and at the same time not really caring if they fully understood it yet.

A thought came to Ichigo and he said, "Orihime?"

A slow blink before she replied, "Yes?"

"On the night when you came to our clinic with your brother, you ran out into the rain. When I tried to get you to come back in, you turned around and said, 'The rain is the end and the beginning.' What did you mean?"

Orihime looked thoughtful for a time before she said, "Well, when it rains, technically it is the beginning and end of the water cycle where the water is absorbed into the ground, evaporates into the air and then falls back into the ground and so on. When I said it after my brother died, it was a time when my old life with him had ended and my new life on my own had begun."

For a time, Ichigo didn't say anything, but allowed his hand to fall away from Orihime's face as he looked outside once again. While Ichigo was distracted, Orihime slipped out from behind him and walked out from under the shelter of the tree. When he saw her walk out into the rain, Ichigo didn't know how to react for a moment and then he called for her to come back under the tree before she was soaked through and caught a cold.

Orihime's response was to smile at him as she turned her face up towards the sky and say in a light tone, "The rain is the end and the beginning."

Then she lowered her face until her eyes met his and before Ichigo could figure out what had happened, he was out and standing in the rain alongside Orihime. They looked at each other long and hard while the rain pelted unendingly yet unheeded against them.

A distant clap of thunder seemed to spur Ichigo into action. He slowly reached down to cup Orihime's face and lower his own until their lips met in a chaste and rather uncertain kiss. The next moment, Orihime was adding more passion into the kiss and Ichigo responded in kind. Slowly, Ichigo and Orihime pulled away from one another and began to gauge the other's reaction to what they had just shared.

Ichigo spoke up first, asking, "So, is this the end or the beginning?"

Orihime looked thoughtful as she said, "Maybe a little bit of both," before she reached up and pulled Ichigo's face down to hers once more.

Thus did the story of how Ichigo Kurosaki met Orihime Inoue truly begin…

**Author's Note:**

Ok, so this is the contest piece I was working on and in some ways I'm satisfied with my work and in others I can only shake my head and say 'What was I thinking?' The answer to that question would be: one does not think at 3 in the morning, one simply types whatever fanciful ideas pop into one's head. So the whole Tanabata festival activities with the pairing off of people...that was a product of me having absolutely no idea what in the world I was doing. It's a goofy idea, but it worked to get Ichigo and Orihime together.

I also have no idea why Keigo and Rangiku ended up together along with Uryu and Captain Unohana. I guess I wanted to make the system seem rather random instead of pairing off everyone with the person I want them to end up with when Bleach is over.

As for the whole Urahara stall to keep people out of the rain...again, I have no idea where that came from.

Anyway, hope you liked this because even though it was early in the morning, there were times when I did giggle and have fun with some of the more quirky moments in here.

There are more stories (and hopefully better ones) coming down the pipeline very shortly!


End file.
